Hi Steve
To say that there are different perspectives is a truism though, isn't it? Even if a person believes that one or more of those perspectives are mistaken.
Whilst I was studying the behavioural sciences I was taught that the conclusion I reached in an essay was largely irrelevant. What was said to be more important was whether or not I had looked critically at a balanced cross-section of the evidence available and demonstrated that the evidence was in favour of the argument I was making. Whether it helped my case to play to the dominant academic trends of the time is another matter. In that sense it can help if you know the biases of your audience!
I'd say there is an inherent tension though in teaching a subject which is to a large extent either openly or tacitly prescriptive, yet at the same expecting practitioners to be able to take a critical position. I mean, how frustrating do we want to make the job? Ignorance is bliss, probably, unless you can muster enough individual or collective power to make the fundamental changes to practice that I would argue are needed in 'mental health'.The question is: Is or should education be a politicised vehicle for achieving this aim?
Chris
_______________________________
From: Mental Health in Higher Education [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephen Tilley [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 15 January 2011 21:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Critical pychosis
Dear all
I have been reading the emails on this thread. One thing that strikes
me is the number of times people recommend that students get a sense
of the variety of perspectives on mental illness / psychiatric
illness, but do not say whether they (the teachers) tell the students
what their (teacher's) own perspective is. Does saying there are
various perspectives constitute a statement of face, a perspective?
Steve
Quoting Philip Benjamin <[log in to unmask]>:
> Pleasure - if you are also interested in the more information about this
> topic, you may want to to consider the looking at the ISPS.
>
> See isps.org/uk/index.php and isps-us.org
> --
> Best Wishes
> Philip Benjamin
> Cell/mobile: +1 718 371 8560
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 2:59 AM, Halsted Angela (Central and North West
> London NHS Foundation Trust) <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Thanks for this email, the article reference is much appreciated as it fits
>> with current service development work.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Angela Halsted
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> *From:* Mental Health in Higher Education [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
>> Behalf Of *Philip Benjamin
>> *Sent:* 13 January 2011 18:59
>>
>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>> *Subject:* Re: Critical pychosis
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Actually, the ISPS International organisation is more based in Europe than
>> the USA - the current International chair is brain Martindale, Psychiatrist
>> and Psychoanalyst, who is currently head of the Tyne-side Psychosis Early
>> Intervention Service.
>>
>> The UK branch seems more focussed on cognitive approaches, and the US on
>> psychodynamic. One recent article from a US based research group, who are
>> members of the ISPS US is
>>
>> Muenzenmaier, K., Spei, E., & Gross, D. R. (2010). Complex posttraumatic
>> stress disorder in men with serious mental illness: a reconceptualization.
>> American Journal of Psychotherapy, 64(3), 257.
>> *Abstract*
>> This paper proposes a reconceptualization of serious mental illness (SMI)
>> utilizing the concept of Complex-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).
>> While the effects of trauma in men have recently received increased
>> attention, the impact of chronic exposure to interpersonal trauma during
>> childhood remains under assessed and under recognized. This holds true
>> particularly for men diagnosed with SMI. The study of two clinical case
>> vignettes of men who have been psychiatrically hospitalized for many years
>> illustrates the necessity of trauma assessments and trauma-focused
>> treatments within this population.
>>
>>
>> The UK branch is very active, with many regional sub-groups. It also has an
>> active email discussion list http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ispsuk/.
>> Interested folks can click on the "join" button, or go to
>> http://www.isps.org/uk/index.shtml for more information
>> --
>> Best Wishes
>> Philip Benjamin
>> Cell/mobile: +1 718 371 8560
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 9:11 AM, Gidley, Ian <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> The International Society for the Psychological treatment of
>> Schizophrenia has useful websites - both ISPS UK and the international
>> one based (ISPS)in the USA and publish their own collection of books
>> which are relevant to this discussion.
>>
>> Ian Gidley
>> Clinical Nurse Specialist in Psychotherapy & Psychodrama Psychotherapist
>> South Glasgow Psychotherapy Service
>> Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mental Health in Higher Education [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>>
>> Behalf Of Sapey, Bob
>> Sent: 07 January 2011 15:02
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Critical pychosis
>>
>> Doesn't our language reflect the model we are using? If we treat
>> schizophrenia as a legitimate disease we might use the term
>> schizophrenic. On the other hand if we believe schizophrenia to be a
>> social construct and not legitimate, then we might talk of people
>> diagnosed with schizophrenia to reflect the labeling process they have
>> been through.
>>
>> I don't think there is any advantage in having a book on politically
>> correct terms as we could then just end up using language that means
>> nothing to us. I think one has to read around the issues and would
>> recommend four books that I have found to be both informative and well
>> written:
>>
>> Making Sense of Voices by Marius Romme and Sandra Escher.
>> Models of Madness edited by John Read, Loren Mosher and Richard Bentall
>> Doctoring the Mind by Richard Bentall,
>> Agnes's Jacket by Gail Hornstein
>>
>> Bob
>>
>> Bob Sapey
>> Senior Lecturer
>> Department of Applied Social Science
>> Bowland North
>> Lancaster University
>> Lancaster
>> LA1 4YN
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mental Health in Higher Education on behalf of Elizabeth Freeman
>> Sent: Fri 07-Jan-11 2:28 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Critical pychosis
>>
>> Yes me too Chris. I'm currently doing PhD research and continually get
>> frustrated with my limited vocabulary and shiver when I use words like
>> mental illness and buzz words such as wellbeing. Are there any
>> alternatives? Or reading that could help?
>>
>> Lizzie Freeman
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mental Health in Higher Education [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Chris Essen
>> Sent: 07 January 2011 13:44
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Critical pychosis
>>
>> I can't speak for lecturers Terry, because I don't teach, but I
>> certainly find this an issue when writing as part of the research I'm
>> doing. I was quite heavily schooled in the social construction of
>> 'mental illness', yet find myself working within the context of an NHS
>> Trust where that notion is a given for many (but not all) people. One of
>> the most difficult challenges I experience is finding a large enough
>> range of neutral language to use. For example, I will tend to use
>> "people diagnosed with a mental illness" rather than "people with a
>> mental illness", but I usually struggle to find a replacement for
>> "mental health" that will suit every situation.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Mental Health in Higher Education [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
>> Of Terry Burridge [[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: 07 January 2011 12:58
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Critical pychosis
>>
>> At a conference a while ago i was chatting with another delegate. i
>> mentioned that i was a university lecturer in mental health nursing.
>> (And, btw, when did we stop being psychiatric nurses/ lecturers and
>> become M.H.
>> teachers?) I was given an appraising look and asked "Do you teach
>> critically?" I wondered if this was a test to see if i new a
>> particularly esoteric code. Should i have scratched my right ear lobe
>> with my left big toe? Anyway what I was being quizzed about was my view
>> on schizophrenia. Did I teach it as a "given"-an illness like mumps,
>> T.B. etc or did i take a different stance?
>> This conversation was replayed the other day at work when a group of
>> M.H.
>> lecturers were talking about schiz. and how we teach it. the . We fell
>> into two camps. The orthodox medical model group. Schz is a discrete
>> illness with signs, symptoms, treatments, outcomes etc. (Which,
>> interestingly is the approach staff in practice want our students to
>> know and adopt.) Then there were the "Schiz as catch all label" group
>> who argued for the invalidity of the concept of schz. quoting the old
>> war horses of Laing,Szasz etc.
>> The point of this little story is to wonder what others here think? Do
>> you teach all versions? Or do you teach all versions but make your
>> preferences clear? I'd be very interested to hear-and, no, this isn't a
>> sneaky way of preparing a paper.Honest!
>>
>> Yours
>>
>> Terry
>>
>> "... we must scramble for grace as best we can."
>> The Lady's Not For Burning.
>> Christopher
>> Fry
>>
>>
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